Scale



Patented Oct. 8, 1935 U N I T S TAT'E S PATE NT O F FIC E SCALE ratio'mof Illinois ADplicationMy 9, 1935, fSerial No. 20,531

and, among other objects, aims to provide f an` improved Vand simplified mechanism for-'adjusting the scale for various tare or other predetery mined weights.

The invention may bei readily understood by referencel tonne illustrative construction shown in the accompanying drawing.

In saidgdrawing: Fig. 1 isi a plan View of a scale beam equipped with'poise setting devices;

Fig.2 is anvelevation ofthe beam; Figf3 is an enlarged fragmentary'elevation'of j a setting. element; and

Fig. 4 is a side, sectional elevation thereof taken from thepla'ne Ili 'of Fig. 3.

TheA common practice in. weighing materials carried on and o a scale in vehicles or other containers, is to vadjust Athe scale fto'the Weight of the vehicle or other container (i. e., to the `tare weight) so that the weight indicationk of the scale Willbe the actual weight of the materials themselves. This practice becomes difficult and leads to inaccurate results where vloads'are placed on the scale in rapid succession, as'A where a series of cars of Various types are moved on'and off the scale in rapid succession. The cars having diiierent tare weights, it is diflicult for the xweigh master `accurately to adjust the usual tare poise for .the tare weight of the successive vehicles. Regardlessof the skill'of the weigh master, the knowledge that hastily adjusted tare poises may produce errors in the indicated weights of the materials, is the; source of suspicion and complaint. While this kdiflic'ult'y is general, it is more orless acute in coal and other mining where the miners are paid on the basis of materials mined whichiare weighed in mine cars passing in rapid ysuccession across the scale. Generally i two or three ytypes of mining cars are in use, requiring la readjustment of the tare poise every time a different type of car comes on the scale.

The present invention provides mechanism by which a scale may be both quickly and'accurately vadjusted to a predetermined tare orother weight. The invention is hereillustrated as embodied in the tareibeam or a-conventional beam scale but, as willpresently appear, the invention is not limited tothe adjustment of tare poises and, among other uses, may befernployed for setting a scale'k quickly and'accurately to other predetermined weights.

For the sake of simplicity, illustrationvof' the tare beam has not been complicated by conventional scale mechanism since this is well known and forms no part of thefinvention. The beam is fulcrumed at vIIJ and-embodiesindependent guide or slideways respectively for, a'tareor other poise II and a stop or stop elements I2, the latterbeing adjustable along the beam to positions Awhere 5 it is desiredto'set thefpoise II. Such stopping elements in this instance include va stop arm I3 adapted to-Ioel moved into yor out' of the-:path of the poise II. As here shown, the arm I3 is hinged at I 4 to the body I5 ofthe stopmember 10 and whenmoved` down,is inl position to be engaged by a part of the poise II,thereby serving as a stop to locatethepoise ata predetermined position along the beam. A When elevatedfas shown in dotted lines at- I6 (Fig. 4)',the arm will clear 15 the poise, leaving the llatter free ftobe moved to any position alongthe beam.y Indeed,l as indicated indotted lines in .Fig.r.4, the poise may be located precisely inhtheposition from which it would be excluded were the arm-|3 inoperative 20 i position Land not movable therefrom without bodily shifting thestop element. (which would change the balance of the beam).

A spring I'I is advantageously employed to hold the stop armeither in,- activeor idle position. 25 For this purpose thek spring isconnectedvto they bodyofy the stopat a point IB which is on the opposite sidev of the hinge and at an intermediate point in the .swing of the` armso as not to be in alignment with the hinge at eitherV the set or idle 30 y positions of the arm. This insures that the arm will-remain in itsselected .position (idle or operative) and will not be accidentally displaced.

A stopdevice I2 is employed for each of the desired'v predetermined positions of the poise 35 (representing Various tare or other predetermined weights) and set in such position along the beam that each of the devices will insure the setting of the poise in a predetermined position along the beam. In adjusting the scalev for a given load, 40 f such as a predetermined tare load,`it is merely necessaryfor the weigh master to kflip down the desired stop arm and move the poise until it is arrested by the stop arm, any other arms in 4 the pathA of the poise'having been flipped up to 45 clear/the poise. Regardless of the speed with which this operation is performed, the accurate setting of the poise is insured.

As stated above, the poise and the stops are carried so that they are independent of each other and particularly so vthat the poise may be moved entirely independently of Vthe stopsyper-V mitting it to be located inany desired position regardlessv of the location of 'any particular stop' (see Fig. 4) For this purpose the guideway along which the poise slides is independent of the portion of the beam carrying the stops. In the present instance the poise is carried on a graduated bar I9 spaced from the bar 2D which carries the stops. The poise bar I9 is cleared merely by raising all the stop arms I3, thus allowing the poise to be set at any desired position along the beam regardless of the location of the stops. Such freedom of adjustment is particularly desirable for testing the scales, an operation which may occur with daily frequency; but independence of the poise is desirable for other reasons which need not be enumerated here. As regards testing the scale, it should be particularly noted that raising of the stop arms to clear the beam does not disturb the balance of the beam and shifting or the removal of the stops is not necessary for any purpose except when it is desired to locate them in another predetermined position. The necessity for such bodily shifting seldom occurs in practice. It will be understood that a poise guideway independent of or clearing the stops may be provided in a variety of other ways than that shown.

In the present arrangement the poise bar I9 is shown carried by the bar 20 by means of studs 2I which have shoulders 22 to space the bars.

The aforesaid independent relationship of the poise bar and the stops advantageously permits a setting of the poise in two closely adjacent positions as where the tare or other predetermined weights differ by only a few pounds. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, predetermined settings of the poise in the closely adjacent positions represented by the full and dotted outlines 23 and 24 of the poise may be effected by locating a pair of stops I2 so that the poise is arrested in position 23 by engagement with the side 25 of one stop arm and in position 24 by engagement with the face 26 of the other stop arm.

The bodies of the stops are here shown of channel or U-shape so as to embrace the bar 20 and are provided with set screws 21 for holding the stops in predetermined position. A retainer plate 28 screwed to the open side of the channel provides a closed channel embracing the bar 20.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the details of the illustrative construction since these may be variously modified. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all features of the invention be used conj ointly since various features may be used to advantage in different combinations and subcombinations.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. In a scale the combination comprising a beam having a poise guideway, a poise slidable thereon, a stop element mounted on said beam in position to be cleared by the poise, a member carried by said stop element and movable into the path of said poise so as to be engaged by a part thereof, and means for adjusting said stop element on 'said beam so that it may be fixed on the beam to locate the poise in a predetermined position.

2. In a scale the combination comprising a beam having a poise guideway, a poise slidable thereon, a stop element mounted on said beam in position to be cleared by the poise, a member carried by said stop element and movable into the path of said poise so as to be engaged by a part thereof, means for holding said member against accidental displacement when positioned either in or out of the path of the poise, and

means for adjusting said stop element on said beam so that it may be fixed on the beam to locate the poise in a predetermined position.

3. In a scale the combination comprising a beam having a pair of guideways, a poise slidable on one guideway, a stop element slidable on the other guideway, said element carrying a member movable into or out of the path of said poise, a device for fixing said element to said beam to serve as a selective stop to locate the poise in a predetermined position on the beam, said guide- Ways being arranged so that the poise may be moved freely along its guidevvay and located in any desired position thereon.

4. In a scale the combination comprising a beam having a poise guideway, a poise slidable thereon, a stop element mounted on said beam in position to be cleared .by the poise, a member carried by said stop element and movable into the path of said poise so' as to be engaged by a part thereof, a spring arranged to hold said member either in idle or operative position against accidental displacement, and means for adjusting said stop element on said beam so that it may be .fixed on the beam to locate the poise in a predetermined position.

5. In a scale the combination comprising a beam having a poise guideway, a poise slidable thereon, a stop element mounted on said beam in position to be'cleared by the poise, said element carrying a hinged arm adapted to be moved into or out of the path of said poise, and means for adjusting said stop element on said beam so that it may be fixed on the beam to locate the poise in a predetermined position.

6. In a scale the combination comprising a beam having a poise guideway, a poise slidable thereon, a stop element mounted on said beam in position to be cleared by the poise, said element carrying a hinged arm adapted to be moved into or out of the path of said poise, a spring connected to said arm and to the stop element at a point beyond the hinge and adapted resiliently to hold the arm either in idle or operative positions, and means for adjusting said stop element on said beam so that it may be fixed on the beam to locate the poise in a predetermined position.

7. In a scale the combination comprising a beam adapted to carry one or more stop elements slidable thereon, a poise bar carried by said beam and spaced therefrom, a poise slidable on said poise bar independently of said stop elements, said stop elements carrying movable members adapted to be moved into or out of the path of the poise to locate the latter in a predetermined position, and means for adjustably fixing said stop elements in desired positions on the beam.

8. In a scale the combination comprising a tare beam having a pair of guideways, a tare poise on one of said guideways and a plurality of stop elements on the other guideway, setting devices on said stop elements for fixing the latter in predetermined positions along the beam, said stop elements carrying stop arms selectively movable into operative position to be engaged by a part of the poise to locate the latter in predetermined position, said arms being movable out of operative position to allow the poise to` be moved freely along the beam to any desired position, and means for holding the arms in position against accidental displacement.

JOHN A. COBB. 

